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Special Education Reporting Responsibilities

Reporting for Children served through the IDEA Part C Program on Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSP)

Part C Children served solely through Regional Centers

Children ages zero to 35 months (inclusive) served solely by Regional Centers are not reported to CALPADS. This includes any children served by County Offices of Education (COEs) or local educational agencies (LEAs) through a direct contract with a Regional Center, funded with IDEA Part C funding through the California Department of Developmental Services (CDDS). Part C data for these children are collected and maintained by the CDDS.

Once these children are nearing three years of age, the Regional Center will refer the child for Part B Initial Evaluation to their respective districts of residence. The districts are responsible for evaluating them for IDEA Part B eligibility, and at that time, those LEAs would be responsible for reporting the IDEA Part B data to CALPADS.

Eligibility for Part B requires parental consent to the initial evaluation, even if the parent previously consented to Part C. If the parent does not consent to the Part B Initial Evaluation, the district of residence (the district in which the student’s parents/guardians reside) must submit data reflecting the change in eligibility status (Not Eligible).

Part C Children dually served through Regional Centers and a Local Educational Agency (LEA) or solely by a LEA

The LEA providing Part C services to children ages zero to 35 months (inclusive) who are either:

1. Dually served through Regional Centers and a Local Educational Agency (LEA), including County Offices of Education (COEs); or

2. Soley served by a LEA, including COEs*

is required to report all required data (Special education status, meetings, plans, and services) to CALPADS.

*It should be noted that some COEs and LEAs may also serve children on Part C through local contracts with California Regional Centers using Part C funding from CDDS. Although the children are being served by a COE or LEA, in these cases, data for these students SHOULD NOT BE REPORTED TO CALPADS. Only students on Part C programs funded by CDE’s IDEA Part C funding should be reported to CALPADS.

Reporting Responsibility and Accountability for Students on IEPs and ISPs

Reference: Definitions for Reporting LEA and District of Special Education Accountability can be found on the following web page : Reporting Data for Students with Disabilities

Reporting Local Educational Agency

The Reporting LEA is the LEA that is responsible for reporting all CALPADS data for a child or student.

Reporting LEA is defined as:

1. The LEA that is providing the majority of instruction and some or all special education and related services; or

2. If the majority of educational instruction is provided by a private school or county jail, or no educational instruction is being provided (children too young to attend school or not subject to compulsory education law), the Reporting LEA is the district providing the majority of special education services.

District of Special Education Accountability

The following table identifies the conditions that determine the District of Special Education Accountability (DSEA) for a student with an IEP:

DSEA Conditions
District of geographic residence The student’s parents or guardians reside in the same district in which the student is receiving special education instruction.
District of geographic residence The student is placed outside of his/her district of geographic residence through the IEP process.
Other District The student has a formal inter-district transfer agreement under Education Code 63600. In this case, the DSEA is the district to which the student has transferred.
Other District The student attends a charter school. In this case, the DSEA is the charter authorizer, or the school code of the charter school if the charter is acting as an LEA for special education purposes.
Other District The student is a ward of the court and housed in a juvenile court, or attends a county community school (in specific circumstances such as law enforcement or social worker referrals). In this case, the DSEA is the county/district code of the COE serving the student while the student is incarcerated or enrolled in the county community school.
Other District The student is a ward of the court and housed in a licensed children’s institution (LCI). In this case, the DSEA is the county/district code of the district where the LCI is located.
Other District The student is housed in an adult county jail. In this case, the DSEA is the county/district code of the district where the student's parents reside.
Other District The student attends a private school that is not geographically located in the boundaries of the school district where the student lives and is on an individualized service plan (ISP). In this case, the DSEA is the county/district code of the district where the private school is located. Note: The student's parents may also request that the student be evaluated for services by the district in which they geographically reside.

Common Scenarios for Determining the Reporting LEA and DSEA

A list of common reporting scenarios for students with disabilities can be found at the following web page: Reporting Data for Students with Disabilities - California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) (CA Dept of Education): https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/swdreporting.asp.

This list provides LEAs with some key criteria to assist in the identification of the Reporting LEA and DSEA in specific scenarios.

Verifying the District of Special Education Accountability

When a student with an IEP is placed outside his or her district of residence by the IEP team, the LEA serving the student would be responsible for reporting the student’s data to CALPADS (Reporting LEA); however, when reporting the student’s Special Education Plan records to CALPADS, the Reporting LEA would indicate the district of residence as the DSEA. Because CALPADS collects data and provides certification reports by Reporting LEA only, it is sometimes difficult for LEAs to view or verify data for these students placed outside the district of residence through the IEP process because their data would be reported and certified by another LEA.

Report 16.14 – Plan Student List by DSEA

To assist LEAs in determining which students they are accountable for, LEAs should run Report 16.14 - Plan Student List by DSEA. This report is available in the CALPADS Reports menu: Reports>Accountability/Monitoring Reports>District of Special Education Accountability. This is a real-time report that can be run at any point during the academic year that will produce a list of all students enrolled on the “As Of” date for whom the requesting LEA is the DSEA.

DSEA Extracts

Additionally two extracts can be found in CALPADS to assist LEAs in determining which students they are accountable for:

  • Accountability DSEA Extract: The Accountability DSEA extract includes students for whom accountability is being sent by the requestor’s LEA to other LEAs, and students for whom accountability is being received by the requestor’s LEA for accountability purposes. The Accountability DSEA extract is limited in grade level and enrollment status because it is intended to align with the California School Dashboard accountability rules. Because all charter schools have their own accountability indicators on the Dashboard, charter schools are NOT able to request and are not included in this extract.

  • Informational DSEA Extract: The Informational DSEA Extract provides the list of students who are not enrolled in the requestor’s LEA but have the requestor’s LEA populated as the DSEA, regardless of grade level or Enrollment Status. The Informational DSEA Extract can be requested by and includes charter schools.

It is essential that LEAs run this report and request these extracts at a minimum, twice annually: once during the Fall 1 Submission window and once during the End-of-Year Submission Window.

Detailed information about each of these verification methods can be found in the CALPADS User Manual:

Report 16.14 – Plan Student List by DSEA – CALPADS User Manual: https://documentation.calpads.org/Reports/Accountability/Report16.14_StudentswithDisabilities-PlanStudentListbyDSEA/

DSEA - CALPADS User Manual: https://documentation.calpads.org/Extracts/DSEAExtract/#district-of-special-education-accountability-dsea-extract

Evaluations and Plan Reviews

Part C Initial Evaluation

For children referred to a LEA for initial evaluation for the IDEA Part C Infant Program, the LEA in which a child’s parents/guardians reside is responsible for ensuring that the child is evaluated. Typically, these are children with low incidence disabilities. Although the district of residence is required to ensure the evaluation occurs, oftentimes these students are evaluated and served by county offices of education.

The LEA administering the evaluation must ensure the child is evaluated within 45 days of receipt of parental consent for evaluation. Additionally, the LEA must ensure that the student’s Individualized Family Service Plan is reviewed at a minimum of once annually.

California Regional Centers are responsible for initially evaluating children referred to a California Regional Center for initial evaluation for the IDEA Part C Infant Program. Additionally, the Regional Center must ensure that the student’s Individualized Family Service Plan is reviewed at a minimum of once annually. Data for children served by Regional Centers are not collected in CALPADS and all federal reporting for Part C children is done by the CDDS.

Part B Initial Evaluation

LEAs are responsible for conducting Part B Initial Evaluations for all students for whom parental consent for evaluation for the IDEA Part B Program has been obtained, including those children on IFSPs served solely by CDDS who will be transitioning to the IDEA Part B Program. The LEA responsible for the Part B evaluations depends on the age of the child for preschool-age children, and where the student is attending school for school-age students:

Preschool-age children (ages three to five years not in transitional Kindergarten or Kindergarten): The LEA responsible for conducting the Part B Initial Evaluation depends on the type of preschool program the student is attending:

  • Public preschool program: For students attending a public preschool program, LEA responsible for conducting the Part B Initial Evaluation is the district in which the student’s parents or guardians reside.

  • Private preschool program: For students attending a private preschool program, LEA responsible for conducting the Part B Initial Evaluation is the district in which the private school is located. If the parents or guardians request it, the district in which the student’s parents or guardians reside may also conduct the initial evaluation.

  • Not attending any preschool program (services only): For students not attending any preschool program and are receiving special education services only, LEA responsible for conducting the Part B Initial Evaluation is the district in which the student’s parents or guardians reside.

School-age students (ages five to 21 years): The LEA responsible for conducting the Part B Initial Evaluation depends on the type of school the student is attending:

  • Public or Nonpublic Nonsectarian Certified school: For students attending a public or Nonpublic Nonsectarian Certified school, the LEA responsible for conducting the Part B Initial Evaluation is the district in which the student’s parents or guardians reside.

  • Private school: For students attending a private school, the LEA responsible for conducting the Part B Initial Evaluation is the district in which the private school is located. If the parents or guardians request it, the district in which the student’s parents or guardians reside may also conduct the initial evaluation.

Making Offers of FAPE to SWD in Private School

Although the LEA responsible for conducting the initial evaluation for Part B is the district in which the private school is located, and not the district where the parent or guardian reside, many districts of residence have a practice of making annual offers of FAPE to all SWD residing in their boundaries attending private schools, to encourage them to receive the full benefits of an IEP at a public school. It is not necessary for the district of residence to report such offers of FAPE to CALPADS unless the parent or guardian accepts the offer and enrolls the student in public school.

Triennial Eligibility Re-evaluation

Students on IEPs in Public Schools: For students on active IEPs at public schools, the LEA where the student is attending school is responsible for reevaluating the student every three years for continued eligibility. If this LEA is different than the District of Special Education Accountability (DSEA), then both LEAs should work collaboratively to ensure that the plan will support the student; however, the LEA where the student is attending school is responsible for conducting the eligibility reevaluations and for reporting data to CALPADS.

Students on IEPs in Nonpublic Nonsectarian Certified Schools

For students on active IEPs at Nonpublic Nonsectarian Certified Schools (NPS), the LEA that placed the student in the NPS is responsible for reevaluating the student every three years for continued eligibility. If this LEA is different than the District of Special Education Accountability (DSEA), then both LEAs should work collaboratively to ensure that the plan will support the student; however, the LEA where the student is attending school is responsible for conducting the eligibility reevaluations and for reporting data to CALPADS.

Students on IEPs not enrolled in any school

For students on active IEPs who are not enrolled in any school and are receiving services only (typically students not subject to compulsory education laws), the LEA that is providing the special education-related services is responsible for reevaluating the student every three years for continued eligibility.

Students on ISPs in Private Schools: For students on active ISPs at a private school, the LEA where the private school is located is responsible for reevaluating the student every three years to determine continued eligibility. These records should be submitted by the LEA to CALPADS as these events occur.